Saturday, June 30, 2012

Through Bel Fiore, artist Loren Costantini (who's also an attorney in Connecticut) and Brenda Taylor Gallery have transformed a vacant lot near the High Line into a pleasant metal garden. The metal flowers come from recycled materials, including car parts found on hikes, while the idea comes from beautifying unused or decaying space, kind of like the High Line itself.

Friday, June 29, 2012

When you think of summer traditions, "adventure art camping on boats" probably doesn't crack your top ten. But the Boatel at Marina 59 may change that. A smash hit in its debut season last year, the Boatel has returned for another summer of artist-decorated sleep-in boats. Spending a night in a seaworthy sound installation on the gently lapping waters of Jamaica Bay, watching a movie at the floating cinema, listening to lectures like "How to Be a TV Star," and helping your shipmates grill up some fresh fish in the friscalating dusklight --- these experiences may join catching fireflies and making smores in your emotional keepsake box of golden summer memories. Especially if you're the sort of person who knows exactly what "friscalating dusklight" is.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Here's how weird the world is: In 1994, a 13-year-old boy disappears in San Antonio. Three and a half years later, he shows up in Spain, claiming to have escaped from an international military sex-slavery-and-medical-experiments ring. He rejoins his family, who seems either not to notice or not to care that he now speaks with a French accent, has brown eyes instead of blue, and appears to be a full-grown man rather than a teenager. And that's just the beginning.

Screening as part of the BAMcinemaFest, which runs through Sunday, The Imposter is one of the most riveting documentaries we've seen. And not merely because of its subject matter --- director Bart Layton handles the formal challenges impeccably, using subjective recreations to show how people "create their own versions of the truth," as he explained afterward in the Q&A. We can't really say more without giving away some gripping and astonishing moments. It opens July 13th at Landmark Sunshine, and you'd be crazy not to see it.